Inheritance
by Torashii
Summary: Because no matter what Tsuna may or may not be, he has never been a liar.


Sometimes Tsuna feels so suffocated that he chokes on his own breath. It isn't the first time he'd felt that way – what with him utterly and spectacularly failing to meet any of the societal expectations – but he's been feeling increasingly closed in ever since he was thirteen.

 _Ciaossu, I'm Reborn, the Home Tutor._

Embarrassingly, it took him three months to realise that no, _this was not a joke_ , and it was only because of Roduko Mukuro's unfortunate intervention that he even got that far. If that encounter never happened, Tsuna was sure he wouldn't have woken up to the fact that the utter shitstorm Reborn had brought with him was in fact Serious until he was dragged into the future, and well, by then it would have been too late.

"Keep up, Useless Tsuna."

The brunet jerked, glancing up at Reborn, before muttering and affirmative and going back to his thoughts. He ignored the frown that was most likely painting the Hitman's face, no doubt for his attitude.

Honestly, the young Decimo-to-be couldn't care less. Too long had he been caught up in Reborn's schemes, and with the Inheritance ceremony – the second one – coming up within a month, Tsuna had never felt more sick in his life than he did right then.

Because for all that he had been cowardly, lazy or lacking, Tsuna was not a liar. He hadn't been able to lie since he was six year old and said that he hadn't eaten Nana's raw cake batter, only to come down with a horrific case of salmonella three days later. So when he first screeched his denial at being a Mafia Boss, he spoke with truth concerning all he knew about the title – which was in fact very little. But after he'd faced two of the only people he'd began to trust, for the first time in years – while they were being controlled no less – and forced to put them down for their own safety, Tsuna turned around and said with all his heart _I don't want to be a Mafia Boss._

I don't want to be part of a world where torture is the norm and people's lives are little more than games for the powerful. I don't want to have to fight simply to keep my family safe and sound. I don't want to be a target for these people. I don't I don't _I don't_ -

With his voice cracking, heart wavering and with more resolve than he ever had before in his life, Tsuna looked Reborn in the eye-

"I don't want to be a Mafia Boss."

And was promptly ignored.

So he was left, body aching from his first proper battle, the unconscious forms of his friends strewn out around him and the feeling of sheer helpless impotence weighting him down.

Honestly, he would have quit, packed his bags right there and left for some far off land – likely to be tracked down the very next day, but _still_ – if it weren't for the people he would be leaving behind, the knowledge that in the mafia it was always life or death and that if _he_ didn't do something the people he loved would _die._

Trust Reborn to have known to trap a Sky with their elements.

And on and on it went, battle after battle, and Tsuna still reluctant up until the very last second before it started to really matter. Again and again and _again_ , wanting to leave and knowing he couldn't and Tsuna honestly couldn't take it anymore. The utter _claustrophobia_ of having absolutely nowhere else to go, with nobody uninvolved to go to and no choice but to do what everyone else besides himself wanted him to do.

He wanted to rage, to punch Nono and Iemitsu in the face, to break every single one of Reborn's guns and bash him own head against the wall over and over and over until he could paint it in his own blood just how little he wanted this godforsaken inheritance. He often cursed Iemitsu for his own involved in the Mafia, Vongola Primo for creating the thing – he even cursed himself for simply being born with the oh so _special_ bloodline that made it okay to drag him kicking and screaming into the underworld.

A short but sharp burst of pain jolted through his head, and Tsuna blinked out of his thoughts to see that Reborn had just slapped him.

"Tch. A Boss doesn't act so pathetic, Useless Tsuna."

 _Of course_.

"But Reborn," Tsuna grinned, eyes dead with resignation and bitterness twisting his mouth into something very near _ugly_ , "I don't want to be a Mafia Boss."


End file.
